Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed welcomed the launch of the third year of the Accelerating the Creation Of Rural Nascent Start-ups (ACORNS) programme, a six-month, part-time development programme for aspiring rural female entrepreneurs.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed and his Department are being urged by IFA rural development chairman, Joe Brady, to make contact with all 3,500 farmers, who are still due their 2016 payment, and to indicate when they will be paid.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed has expressed concern about a Mercusor trade deal that could seriously disadvantage the Irish and European beef sector. Minister Creed was speaking at a meeting of the European Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers meeting.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, has welcomed the European Commission’s 'notice of initiation to conduct a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of ammonium nitrate originating in Russia'.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed hosted his second meeting of the Dairy Forum today, with key stakeholders from the Irish dairy sector. The forum meets a commitment in the current Programme for Government and addresses the need for a collaborative strategic approach to the issues facing the sector including market volatility.

Minister for Agriculture Food and Marine Michael Creed met with the German Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Christian Schmidt, in Berlin today (March 16), at the first of three bilateral meetings Minister Creed is holding with EU agriculture ministers over two days.

IFA national livestock chairman Angus Woods said cattle supplies at the meat factories this week are tighter than anticipated and factories are finding it more difficult to cattle at the lower quoted prices.

Given the seriousness of the fodder situation in parts of the country, particularly in the north-west, it is imperative that all Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments are made without any further delay, IFA deputy president, Richard Kennedy, has insisted.

An IFA delegation led by president Joe Healy met with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels this week. The IFA president set out the IFA's Brexit priorities as outlined in the recently launched policy document, Brexit: The Imperatives for Irish Farmers and the Agri-food sector.